Geo-political problems in previously popular holiday spots like Turkey, Egypt and Tunisia has put more pressure on the western Mediterranean.

“I think you should not see it as an increase in price but you should think about lower last minute offers or late reductions as you had typically in the years before,” said chief executive Friedrich Joussen.

“That’s what I think would happen and that’s what I think I already see today. That’s one of the reasons why our Rius have 13% higher prices per bed at night in Q1 and that’s also the reason why I personally believe that profitability will not suffer.”

In its first quarter update Tui said that bookings to Turkey had fallen by 40%.

The operator was already suffering from problems in Tunisia, which is effectively closed for UK holidaymakers, and the ban on flights to Sharm el Sheikh.

Joussen declined to say how much this was costing the company.

The outbreak of the Zika virus is also causing concern about travel to the Caribbean and Latin America but Joussen said he had seen no impact on bookings so far.

“We have very strong growth in the Caribbean. Would the growth be stronger if Zika was not there? I don’t know,” he said.

Meanwhile, Joussen also expressed as desire for the UK to remain in the European Union, which he said was likely to happen.

Tui saw its first quarter earnings before interest, tax and amortisation narrow from a loss of €141.4 million to €137.5 million. Turnover rose 5.4% to €3.7 billion.